Hi all,
I have just achieved top-up MBA from University of Northampton after awarding postgraduate business diploma from University of Bradford. Both were DL with 3 modules studied on campus of Bradford.
I'm looking for DBA either DL or part-time (with least attendance) from a recognized business school. I'm a SW engineer working in telecommunication industry with an experience of 20 years. My MBA was general. However, I'm interested in both Strategic management and Economics (my research projects at MBA and Diploma were in those areas respectively).

Bradford offers DBA with 41K pounds (I cannot afford) while Northampton offer is 24K. Northampton program requires visiting the campus 4 times a year which is difficult to me while they have no other campus in Middle East like Bradford (anyway Bradford does not serve DBA at that campus!).

What other alternatives could I check in this situation?
Thanks

What are your goals? Why not complete a PhD instead?

I have an understanding that DBA follows MBA since my undergraduare study was not bussiness administration while PHD is more academic. Is this correct?

I'm looking for everything :) :
- more knowledge in area of study (either Economics or strategic management)
- more knowledge in research
- promotion at my career in telecommunication business operation
- I might go for teaching either at IGCSE or even some subjects at college level

Dear Duncan,
I spent last night reading about PHD after MBA. I agree with you and I'm interested in stydying PHD instead of DBA. I wonder:

- what universities do you recommend for me with limited or no attendance and cost of 24K pounds among 4 years?
- will PHD be in business administration as DBA, or will it be in a specific major?
- is such PHD program offered by business schools or other colleges? Again, my BSc is in SW engineering not in business administration.

Thanks

I would start from the other perspective. What current scholarship in respected management journals interests you the most, and inspires you to develop in your own research. A PhD is a solo research project, and you need an experienced supervisor who shares your passion. Picking the PhD has to come after that.

I'm afraid I did not get what you mean by "scholarship", do you mean area or research or even research question?

Should I look for the supervisor according to the topic while searching for the university, rather than finding the university which will assign the appropriate supervisor accordingly?

At DBA, there is a stage1 of two years studying before providing research proposal. doesn't PHD have the same?

Yes, by scholarship I mean the work of scholars rather than financial support.

I don't have the time to give a longer answer but, as a part-time PhD candidate, I am award that completion rates are very low on DBAs and part-time PhDs. One reason is that many students are keen to have a license to teach, but actually they are not very interested in contributing to a specific, live, debate between scholars. If you are not reading top journals and passionate about both a theoretical perspective, a set of methods and a domain for data collection then you are not set up for success. A teaching qualification could be a better investment.

Please allow me to write "longer answer" because I do appreciate your last message.
Once completed my undergraduate study, I choose to go for practical not academic path. Accordingly, all my degrees and certificates I got were in that side. However, when worked with MBA (especially at two research projects), I read a lot in books, academic papers and journals but from different perspective rather than that I used to have when studying the practical degrees focusing on either my workplace or even area of work specialization.
Now, I believe I enjoyed academic business research and looking for deeper study. However, I'll have a break of several months for only reading to make sure this is my right choice.

Could you please advise on my previous questions:
- Could any accredited university accept me in PHD program while I have MBA not MSc?
- What majors will be offered to me in this case, are they same topics studied at MBA?
- What universities do you recommend to me according to attendance and budget, or finding the research question is a mandatory before this stage?
- If I'm interested in both economics and strategic management, what academic journal do you recommend to me to look for point of interest?
Many thanks in advance

What comes across to me from your reply is that you want to study more deeply the best practice of business, but I don't think you want to read or write academic research, which is typically about the edges of management scholarship. A PhD would be in that new territory rather than deepening your knowledge of what has already been established by others.

Yes, most universities will accept students without an MSc but they are looking for the ability to do scholarly research. The best schools, of course, will want people with good master's dissertations.

Dear Duncan,
I'm interested to go through this path of more academic research with all its consequences. I understand this might change life style with dramatic change at both type and time of readings and interactions with both literature and scientific posts. However, I'm still confused about the right order of this set of actions:
- looking for a business school matching my budget and attendance
- narrowing my research area and focusing on a specific topic
- finding an academic staff interested in same area

DBA seems easier at this side since first two years are dedicated for business research methods and specifying research area while supervisor will be assigned by business school itself before starting the last two years. However, I'm interested to go to the challenge of PHD.
Could you please guide me through the appropriate order of the three actions (business school, area of research and supervisor)?
Thanks

Dear Duncan,
I'm interested to go through this path of more academic research with all its consequences. I understand this might change life style with dramatic change at both type and time of readings and interactions with both literature and scientific posts. However, I'm still confused about the right order of this set of actions:
- looking for a business school matching my budget and attendance
- narrowing my research area and focusing on a specific topic
- finding an academic staff interested in same area

DBA seems easier at this side since first two years are dedicated for business research methods and specifying research area while supervisor will be assigned by business school itself before starting the last two years. However, I'm interested to go to the challenge of PHD.
Could you please guide me through the appropriate order of the three actions (business school, area of research and supervisor)?
Thanks

Narrow your field, then find the pool of scholars researching that field, follow them on Researchgate, then start reading their work and writing notes or very short summaries on researchgate.

One supervisor can't supervise all research well. Without a good fit, you will do trivial research.